Above, trees blossoming in the High Street, and below, the
bluebells starting to bloom in Odell woods

Odell Village Hall

The annual Quiz Night on 4th March was enjoyed by all who took part. Congratulations to
the 9 teams all of whom achieved good scores.

Rob Lee asking the questions and Sue Knowles
clocking up the scores

Unfortunately the evening of folk music and song we were hoping to have is still short
of Folk Singers/Band. We are still looking and hope to have something arranged this year!

If you have ideas about events let us know and we will endeavour to do something about
it. Why not come to our Annual General Meeting on 10th April in the village hall and tell
us in person. We would like to know if you feel we are managing the hall well on your
behalf

.

If you cannot join us then why not take part in the Family Easter Egg Hunt on 22nd
April? There will be something for all the family! Watch out for posters and flyers
through your letter-box.

We are hoping to repeat the "Old Tyme Dance" in the near future. Though it
wasn't very well attended last time there is interest in holding another event. Details in
the next edition.

Thank you very much to all who have supported events recently and to those who made
private bookings. These bookings are the lifeblood of the hall which, as the building ages
(gracefully), requires more and more maintenance. Remember, to make a booking ring the
number advertised in the front inside cover of every issue of the parish magazine.

The Village Hall is run by a voluntary committee. We would welcome some more members so
if you have some spare time and would like to join us please contact Rob Lee 720730

Odell Village Hall Management Committee

Round and About 

The Skys the
Limit.

Over the last few months we have been privileged to witness a series of outstanding
astronomical spectaculars ranging from a number of meteor showers and the appearance of a
comet to the total eclipse of the sun.

Do you ever find yourself looking up into the night sky and wondering about those
bright points of light sparkling away amidst that dark, velvety background? On a clear
night you are supposed to be able to see anything up to 6,000 of them. Experts claim that
there are 100,000 million stars in our galaxy alone but with 100,000 million galaxies to
choose from, all of them with roughly the same amount of stars and with the probability of
even more galaxies that we do not yet know of, the number of stars seems to be limitless.

Just why do those stars sparkle so? The light given off by the stars travels through
the atmosphere and the atmosphere effectively distorts what we see. To take a similar
example, it is rather like looking at a road surface on a very hot day, when the road
shimmers in the heat. This is caused by the hot air close to the ground rising up through
air pockets of different densities causing the light to bend and become distorted. It is
the same with the stars. The light passes through pockets of varying density high up in
the atmosphere, which causes the stars to twinkle. The light given off by a star, however,
shows a perfectly steady light.

Why does a shooting star shoot? This is something of an illusion and caused by a cloud
of solid particles, sometimes as small as a grain of wheat, hurtling through space for
millions of years which, when they finally strike the Earths atmosphere, usually
burn up. These particles originate from the dust and debris surrounding a comet and if a
large enough trail of debris forms behind a comet it appears to us on Earth as if the
comet has formed a fiery tail  and this we call a shooting star. If any of these
particles are large enough to survive their journey through the Earths atmosphere
and reach the surface of our planet, such rocks are called meteorites. Over the millennia
a number of large meteorites have succeeded in striking the Earth, sometimes creating
massive craters and one theory has it that a meteorite strike brought about the
disappearance of the mighty dinosaurs.

And what of that other great phenomenon in the sky? The sun first brought light and
warmth to our world some 4,600 million years ago. The sun has been likened to a great
nuclear bomb, which gathers its energy from the fusing together of its nuclei.

Today the sun both lights and warms our world enabling life to exist and vegetation to
grow. Indeed, we could not do without it. At some time in the future, however, the sun
will slowly start to swell. When this happens the sun will turn red and almost fill our
sky. The surface of the Earth will become very hot and finally all life will be burned to
a frazzle. Well, thats the theory anyway! The good news is that it will not happen
for at least another 5,000 million years  phew! Thats a relief 
well all be long gone by then!

Barbara Corley

Millennium Book of Odell

By the time this issue of the magazine reaches you I hope to be putting the final
touches to the Millennium Book. With the book in the hands of the printers in April, and
taking into account proof reading etc., it is hoped that we can get the book published for
mid-summer.

Barbara Corley.

W.I. News

A Cook's Tour was the subject of our speaker Mr. P. Chubbs talk when he came to
our meeting in March. He had been in the catering and hotel trade all his life and
interspersed his stories of his travels round the world with recipes from that particular
country. He had been to such diverse places as France and Hong Kong. He left us with his
recipe leaflet so although we could only enjoy his memories of his travels we could sample
for ourselves his recipes.

Next Meeting of the WI:

Our next meeting will be the fashion show presented by 'Y' fashions when members and
guests will have the opportunity to buy clothes from popular high street stores such as
Next, Principles, Marks and Spencers and Wallis at competitive prices.

Tickets are priced at £3.00 and include a glass of wine and nibbles. All welcome - see
the posters or ask any W.I. member for details or ring me on the number below. The show
will start at 7.30 on Tuesday 11th April. We look forward to seeing you all.

Rachel Halton 720572

Odell Parish Council

The footpath eastwards from Castle Yard
House has been

renewed by the Beds County Council.

The new pillar box was set up in Tannery Lane on the 9th March.

We have decided to renew the lease on the Children's Playground at its present site.
This time the Agent has only offered us a 2-year lease. This, we are advised, is so that
the Owner of the land "can keep his options open".

We are assured by the Bedfordshire County Council that the

road surfaces outside the Bell PH, on Hartles Hill, near the Mad Dog,

and up Church Lane will be repaired in the first week of April.

We still have some Millennium mugs, price £2 each.

See Robert Lee or me. Jonathan Harrison , Chairman

The Mill Theatre, Sharnbrook

Oliver!-

Wednesday 17th to Saturday 27th May.

Matinees Saturday 20th and 27th May at 3.00pm.

Nightly at 7.45pm.

The hit musical for all ages: a combined production with Sharnbrook Mill Youth Theatre.
Prepare to book early!

Tickets: Tuesday 23rd May and both Saturday Matinees £6.

18th  20th and 24th to 27th May £8.

Please note that Wednesday 17th and Monday 22nd May are Charity
Performances in aid of Rushden Chicheley Rotary Club and Bedfordshire Womens
Institutes respectively, through whom tickets should be booked for those evenings.

Bookings may be made from Monday 17th April at:

Bedford - Central Box Office, Harpur Suite - tel: 01234 269519

Wellingborough - The Castle Box Office - tel: 01933 270007

(Both of the above accept credit card bookings).

Sharnbrook -by returning your booking forms in person to The
Village Trader, 28 High Street.

Planning permission has been granted and we now need to raise £47,500
in order to achieve our goal of providing dedicated disabled access facilities.

Now is your chance to turn a dream into reality by taking part in our
Grand Prize Draw, which is being held thanks to the generosity of many kind local
businesses and other donors who have provided a wide selection of prizes:

The draw will take place at the theatre on Saturday 27th
May, after the final performance of Oliver!

Prize Draw Tickets: £5 per book or £1 per ticket, are available from
Joi Werndley, Village Trader, 28 High St., Sharnbrook or via

01234 782 474.

Promoter: Theo Gibbs, Stony Cottage, Park Lane, Sharnbrook.

Friends of St. Marys Stevington Theatre Group

Trips to the Royal Theatre, Northampton

These popular outings have been running for many years and are open to
anybody. Please contact Helen or Richard Miller on (01234) 822475 or write to us at Church
View, Church Rd., Stevington Beds MK43 7BQ for more details.

Three Tall Women  book by 24th April

This play by Edward Albee charts how we change and become noticeably
different people through the course of a lifetime. Albee makes no secret of the fact that
the play is a reckoning with his own painful relationship with his adoptive mother. We see
the mother at three different stages of her life. Her/our journey is vividly and wittily
charted. This play is regarded by many as an even better play than Whos Afraid
of Virginia Woolf?

We are going on the 15th May.

Dont Dress for Dinner  book by 22nd May

The perfect escape from the wear and tear of everyday life. Bernhard is
hoping for a country weekend with his Chic Parisian Mistress. He has arranged a cordon
bleu cook, is in the process of sending his wife off to her mother and has invited a
friend to supply his alibi. Everything that can go wrong, does. This farce "hurtles
along at the speed of light" and "is a near faultless piece of theatrical
invention".

Play by Marc Camoletti, adapted by Robin Hawdon.

We are going on 12th June.

April Diary

2nd Mothering Sunday

5th 11.30am Lenten Frugal Lunch, Liz Dodwells.

5th 8.00pm Lent Study, Rectory.

10th 8.00pm Village Hall Committee AGM.

11th 7.30pm WI Fashion Show, Village Hall.

12th 12.30 Senior Citizens Lunch, Rectory.

12th 7.30pm PCC AGM, Village Hall.

20th 8.00pm Maundy Thursday Holy Communion.

21st 2.00pm Meditation on the Cross, All Saints.

22nd 10.00am Church Decorating.

22nd Family Easter Egg Hunt, Village Hall.

23rd 10.00am Morning Prayer and Holy Communion.

29th 2.00pm Harrold Pit Run.

May.

2nd 10.30am Meeting Point, venue to be arranged.

17th 10.30am Meeting Point at Doris Bannard-Smiths, 10
The

Bury, Pavenham.

Magazine Deadline

Please send all entries for the May magazine to Tricia Hudson
(triciahudson@kbnet.co.uk), Anne Turner, Mandy Sharpe or Catherine Corkery by April 12th
at the latest. May we remind you that the editorial team exercises the right to
edit, shorten or alter any items that are submitted. Also, the opinions expressed in the
articles are those of the contributors and are not the responsibility of the editorial
team.